COULD KAZAKHSTAN MOVE BEYOND ELECTORAL AUTHORITARIANISM?
By Fredrik M. Sjöberg (12/14/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: These elections were of great interest to the entire region, but particularly relevant to the OSCE countries due to Kazakhstan’s ambition to take over the OSCE presidency in 2009, an issue that will be decided in 2006. None of the previous elections, that is the 1999 presidential election or last year’s parliamentary election, were deemed to have fully complied with Kazakhstan’s international commitments to free and fair elections. The electoral campaign was fairly low-key with no major issues dominating the agenda.ELECTIONS IN CHECHNYA: HAVE THEY RETURNED LIFE TO NORMAL?
By Murad Batal Al-Shishani (12/14/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: These elections constitute the last phase in a three-phase \"political process\" designed by the Kremlin to normalize conditions in Chechnya through its loyalist Chechen government. The first phase consisted of holding a constitutional referendum in March 2003, followed by presidential elections held in November 2004 that resulted, as was clear, with the success of the pro-Russian administration, headed by former mufti Ahmad Kadyrov, who was killed only seven months later. The elections were pursued nevertheless and placed Alu Alkhanov at the head of the government.KAZAKHSTAN’S PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS: A STEP FORWARD
By Robert L. Barry (12/14/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: When this author served as head of the OSCE election observation mission during Kazakhstan’s parliamentary elections in 2004, the problem considered to be the most serious was the lack of transparency in the work of the Central Election Commission. This year, under new leadership, the Commission corrected this flaw. Moreover, the publication of election results broken down by polling station represented another major step forward towards transparency, since observers are now able to verify that the counts in polling station protocols were carried over into the vote totals reported by the CEC.RUSSIA REALIZES ITS CARTEL
By Stephen Blank (11/30/2005 issue of the CACI Analyst)
BACKGROUND: In early 2002 Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a cartel of gas producers in the CIS. This clearly was a major initiative connected with the rejuvenation of Russian efforts to augment the value and the effective deployment of its economic instruments of power in Central Asia as a response to the American presence in Central Asia after September 11. While superficially it might appear that he was calling for a natural gas equivalent of OPEC, in fact the asymmetry of pipeline distribution and of power in the CIS would inevitably tilt such a cartel to Russian hegemony and dominance.Visit also
Staff Publications
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, U.S. Policy in Central Asia through Central Asian Eyes, May 2023.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, "Promise and Peril in the Caucasus," AFPC Insights, March 30, 2023.
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Putin's War In Ukraine and the Crimean War), 19fourtyfive, January 2, 2023
Oped S. Frederick Starr, Russia Needs Its Own Charles de Gaulle, Foreign Policy, July 21, 2022.
Silk Road Paper S. Frederick Starr, Rethinking Greater Central Asia: American and Western Stakes in the Region and How to Advance Them, June 2022
Oped Svante E. Cornell & Albert Barro, With referendum, Kazakh President pushes for reforms, Euractiv, June 3, 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell Russia's Southern Neighbors Take a Stand, The Hill, May 6, 2022.
Silk Road Paper Johan Engvall, Between Bandits and Bureaucrats: 30 Years of Parliamentary Development in Kyrgyzstan, January 2022.
Oped Svante E. Cornell, No, The War in Ukraine is not about NATO, The Hill, March 9, 2022.
Analysis Svante E. Cornell, Kazakhstan’s Crisis Calls for a Central Asia Policy Reboot, The National Interest, January 34, 2022.
Book S. Frederick Starr and Svante E. Cornell, Strong and Unique: Three Decades of U.S.-Kazakhstan Partnership, Central Asia-Caucasus Institute, December 2021.
Silk Road Paper Svante E. Cornell, S. Frederick Starr & Albert Barro, Political and Economic Reforms in Kazakhstan Under President Tokayev, November 2021.